[Re]actions

Rotation- Rotation is a term that is used often in history in reference to the fact that history repeats itself. In my history and theory of design class we talked about how furniture made a rotation it started out very simple and then it moved to being very curvy and elaborate and then bake to simple straight lines and then finally back to elaborate again. Blakemore talks about his idea of rotation “during the empire period there was a tendency to more accurately revive classical models: whereas in the early neoclassical period of Louis XVI, designers consciously, freely adapted and interpreted designs based on antique sources of influence” (Blakemore 337) Rotation in design would be the idea that a room or a building or anything that you design is rotational meaning that all sides and all views are designed you don’t just design one wall of something you design the whole space. The picture below is of a drawing that I did of a cardboard chair I thought that this chair represented rotation because of the fact that this chair is made of recycled cardboard and it is basic and simple.

Movement- Movement can be interpreted in two different ways relating to design. The first way that movement can be seen is the way that we talk about in my history class which is moving on and developing designs and ideas. We have recently been studying early America which is all about new things and moving from England to the new world and creating new designs. One of the biggest movements that we talked about this past week was the glass and iron movement. Glass and Iron opened up a whole new realm of possibilities in the design world. Movement in the other since of the word can be used as the actual act of moving. In my drawing and my drafting class this past week we have been working on designing a room that incorporates a living area an eating area and a kitchen. In designing this it has been essential that we focus on movement in the space. People must be able to move throughout the space without obstacles getting in their way. In my Blakemore readings he talked about the idea of the fireplace being the center of the home and everything revolving around it “the chimneypiece was the focal point of the Early Georgian interior, and considerable attention was lavished on it in terms of the ornamentation of the architectural elements as well as its position in the room.” (Blakemore 260) In my studio class we have been building things that manipulate light so movement is seen in the form of controlling or moving nature to fit you desires or needs. The following picture is of the room that I have been working on for drafting and drawing it is a processes picture the final design has not yet been completed. The picture below is of the space that i have been designing for my drafting and drawign classes. This space represents movement by the layout and the way that you manuver troughout it.

Reflection- Reflecting on the past and the history of design is extremely important to understanding design now. Most of the ideas in design if not all have come from the past and the majority of the ideas have been around since the beginning of time. If we do not study these ideas we cannot design now to our full potential. Also reflection is something that is talked about in regards to your work. For example in my house design that I am working on for drawing and drafting the design is something that reflects who I am as a designer. In my studio project with manipulating light the idea of reflection was a good place to start when coming up with my design. In reading Roth I found a quote that I think very strongly represents reflection “Architecture was intended to communicate its purpose directly to the observer, to be l’ architecture parlent, or literally, “speaking architecture.”.” (Roth 448) The picture below is of the crystal palace this building really reflects the period that it was built the industrial revolution when iron and glass were first being used.

Source- This past week in my history and theory of design class we have been talking about colonial America and early America. In talking about this we talked about how America got most of its ideas of design from England so often times in looking at early American design the buildings could be found in either location. America used England as their design source. This past week we also talked about how glass and iron could be mass produced this was during the industrial revolution when lots of new ideas and sources of materials and information were becoming available. In my drawing and drafting assignment of designing the house we had to find furniture and appliances to put in our designs. Often times in design you have to take things from different sources to incorporate into you design. In my design studio class we are building the object for manipulating light and in coming up the design we had to think about our source of light and how it would work with our design. The following quote talks about how these people took inspiration from a painting “Taking their inspiration from the seventeenth-century landscape paintings of Nicholas Poussin and Claude Lorrain, numerous wealthy gentry reshaped their country estates in the manner of these paintings, damming streams to create irregular lakes, and [planting groups of trees so as to frame asymmetrical vistas of meadowland across the landscape, dotted with classical pavilions.” (Roth 453) The drawing below is of one of the pieces of furniture i found to use in my space.

Illumination- My interpretation of the word illumination in reference to design is a building or an object that stands out from its environment. Roth talks about how this house stands out because of its stark design “The stark geometry of the administrator’s house was emphasized by over scaled details, particularly the columns of the portico built up of alternated cylindrical and square blocks of stone.” (Roth 451) In my history and theory of design class we have been talking about the industrial revolution in which country’s were competing with one another to make the biggest and the best designs the prime example of illumination is the Crystal palace whose design was later repeated by America and France. These iron and glass buildings also let in a lot of natural light illuminating the building in a way that had not been experienced before this time. In my design studio class we are playing with illumination with our designs of objects that manipulate light. The drawing below is a symbol of illumination it is a light and without light there would be no illumination.

Synopsis- This week’s words focus a lot on the way that things are viewed for example illumination is about lighting and showing off and rotation is about showing all sides and completion. Reflection can also be tied to the idea of things being viewed. Then movement rotation and source are all tied together with the idea of moving forward progressing and developing new ideas in design and architecture.